LManchester City boss, Pep Guardiola, has admitted things could be worse for his team and aimed a subtle dig at fierce rivals, Manchester United.


Guardiola’s men have endured a miserable season this term.

City have long been out of the Premier League title race and are in a fight to qualify for the Champions League.


The champions currently sit in fifth place, with Aston Villa and Chelsea breathing down their necks.

Speaking to the media ahead of City’s clash against Everton this weekend, Guardiola said: “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to fight to qualify for the Champions League. We could be in a much lower position in the Premier League if you had done fewer good things than we have done in these four, five months.

“People say we are fourth now but I say yeah we could be 11th or 12th or 13th or 14th.”


Guardiola’s comments come with United currently in 14th in the table having lost 14 of their 32 matches this campaign.

Inter Miami superstar, Lionel Messi, has admitted that he desired to return to Barcelona, but it did not eventually work out.


Messi was keen to return to the LaLiga giants after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The 38-year-old, who won the tournament with Argentina, eventually left Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent for the Major League Soccer, MLS.


“I had the intention of returning to Barcelona and being able to go back to a place I always wanted to be, but it wasn’t possible again,” Messi told Simplemente Fútbol.

“After that, it (deciding on a new club) became a family decision. The fact that we won the World Cup also had a big impact.

“I was clear that I didn’t want to be at another team in Europe, I didn’t want to go to any of them.


Messi wasat Barca for 17 seasons, winning a total of 35 trophies, including ten (10) Laliga titles and four (4) Champions League titles.

At Inter Miami, he has lifted two trophies – the 2023 Leagues Cup and the 2024 MLS Supporters’ Shield.

Joe Thompson, a former Manchester United’s academy midfielder, is dead at the age of 36.


His former club Rochdale said it was “devastated” to learn of his death on Friday.

Rochdale, in its statement disclosed that the their former midfielder died on Thursday “peacefully at home with his family by his side”.


Thompson made over 200 appearances for Rochdale, who he joined from Manchester United’s academy backed in 2005.

The club posted a tribute on X, describing their former midfielder as “a warm personality who had a deep connection with our club from a young age”.

Thompson retired from professional football in 2019. He was diagnosed with cancer for a third time in 2024.


He represented clubs like Southport, Carlisle United, Bury, Tranmere Rovers and Wrexham before his death.